Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

HITLER FINDS HIS HOME 81drove them out in whole packs. Then we came to the place where theforest ended and the open road went on. To the left of us lay severalfarms, they were still occupied, and wc went through a withering fire.One man after another collapsed ahead of us. Our major came up,fearless and calmly smoking, with his adjutant, Lieutenant Piloty. Themajor took in the situation at a glance and ordered us to assemble toright and left of the highway for an assault. We had no more officers,hardly any non-coms. So every last one of us, that was still more or lessin one piece, ran back to get reinforcements. When I came back thesecond time with a troop of scattered Wurttembergers, the major lay onthe ground with his breast torn open. A heap of corpses lay around him.By this time there was only one officer left, his adjutant. Wc wereboiling with fury. 'Herr Lieutenant, lead us at them!' we all shouted. Sothen we went forward and leftward into the wood; on the road we couldnot advance. Four times we went forward and were forced to retreat; ofmy whole detachment only one man was left aside from myself, andfinally he too fell. A shot tore off the whole left sleeve of my tunic, butby a miracle I remained untouched. Finally at two o'clock, we advanceda fifth time, and this time we occupied the edge of the forest and thefarm. At five in the afternoon we assembled and dug in a hundred yardsfrom the road.For three days we fought on like this, and on the third day theBritishers were finally licked. The fourth evening we marched back toWerwick. Only then did we see what our losses had been. In four daysour regiment of thirty-five hundred men had melted away to sixhundred. There were only thirty officers left in the whole regiment. Fourcompanies had to be dissolved. But wc were all proud of having lickedthe Britishers. Since then we have been in the front lines the whole time.I was proposed for the Iron Cross, the first time in Messines, the secondtime in Wytschaete by Lieutenant-Colonel Engelhardt, our regimentalcommander. Four others were proposed at the same time. On December2, I finally got it.I am now carrying dispatches for the staff. With regard to dirt,conditions are a little better here, but it is also more dangerous. InWytschaete alone, on the day of the first attack, three of us eight wereshot off, and one badly wounded. We four survivors and the woundedman were cited for distinction. And this saved our lives.